9th Annual Delaware River Watershed Forum

September 29- October 1, 2021

#DelRivForum2021

Unlearning False Racial Myths

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Thank you to our Sponsors!

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Meet Your Presenter

Dr. Karen Gaffney (she/her)

English Department

Raritan Valley Community College

Branchburg, NJ

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website with resources: dividednolonger.com

email: dividednolonger@gmail.com

twitter: @dividednolonger

My approach

Develop an anti-racist mindset

• become aware of damaging & false racial myths
• work on becoming un-indoctrinated

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Apply an anti-racist mindset

• actively resist these myths every day

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Myth #1: Human races are biologically different

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We might think that 2 random white people are closer biologically to each other than a random white person and Black person…

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Reality:

There are no inherent or biological or genetic differences between groups we call races because race is a social construct (a human invention).

Dorothy Roberts’ TED Talk:

The problem with race-based medicine

Develop an anti-racist mindset

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But what about skin color?

• Genes that influence skin color do NOT correlate with the majority of other traits
• Skin color variation is a relatively recent trait
• We have been taught to focus on skin color as a sign that there are biologically distinct human racial groups, but that’s a myth

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see resources here

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Why is the myth that race is biological dangerous?

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• Serves as rationale and justification for white supremacy, imperialism, colonialism, genocide, land theft, slavery, segregation, immigration restrictions, and more

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Myth #2: Race has always existed. Whiteness has always existed.

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We have been taught to think that:

• People have always thought of each other in terms of race.
• People have always assigned value to skin color.

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Beginning of recorded human history

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present

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Reality: Race is a relatively recent human invention

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Colonial Virginia, early to mid 1600s, before the invention of race:

• The line between servant and enslaved person was ambiguous
• People didn’t identify as “Black” or “white” (nationality, language, religion)
• Elite wealthy landowners vs. labor
• Bacon’s Rebellion (1676)

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Beginning of recorded human history

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present

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Develop an anti-racist mindset

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Virginia “slave codes,” 1705

• Right to vote, serve on a jury, hold office were all taken away from Black people who had property, now deemed “persons incapable in law”
• Enslaved Black and Native American people are now “real estate”; slavery is permanent
• European servants, newly called “white,” receive specific benefits of food, money, and a weapon when they finish their temporary servitude and can go to court if not treated well

(see Dismantling the Racism Machine, pages 68-70, and

more resources here)

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Manifest Destiny

American Progress (1872) by John Gast

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Native Land

https://native-land.ca/

Stolen Land

Myth #3: The Civil Rights Movement ended racism

Reality: Systemic racism is a serious problem in the US today.

• Housing segregation
• School segregation
• Black maternal and infant mortality
• Access to resources
• Representation in media & popular culture
• Surveillance, arrest, and incarceration

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Develop an anti-racist mindset

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New York Times, 9/9/20

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https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/09/09/us/powerful-people-race-us.html

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Racial Wealth Gap�

https://www.njisj.org/

Apply an anti-racist mindset

https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/race-best-predicts-whether-you-live-near-pollution/

Apply an anti-racist mindset

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/07/climate/FEMA-race-climate.html?smid=url-share

Apply an anti-racist mindset

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/08/24/climate/racism-redlining-cities-global-warming.html

Apply an anti-racist mindset

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnF5I7lt6nQ&ab_channel=TheAtlantic

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“Communities of color face disproportionate rates of natural disaster and environmental harm. Staff writer Vann R. Newkirk II argues that discrimination in public planning is to blame. “Pollution and the risk of disaster are assigned to black and brown communities through generations of discrimination and political neglect,” says Newkirk II.”

Apply an anti-racist mindset

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• How can your organization be structured so that racial justice is a priority in every project?
• How can your organization be structured so that communities of color most directly impacted by climate change and environmental racism are leading the decision-making process?
• How can your organization be structured so that racial justice is not an afterthought?

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Want to learn more?

• My website has a page of Resources on Race and Racism organized by topic
• includes links to videos and articles and book recommendations
• My book Dismantling the Racism Machine explains these myths in detail (this coupon code will provide a discount of 30% off at the Routledge website: SS213)
• Email me with questions & comments: dividednolonger@gmail.com
• Follow me on twitter @dividednolonger

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Thank you for joining us!

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Join the conversation on social media using #DelRivForum2021!

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